, director of research development for the arts and humanities in the and the (A&S), has been recognized with the 2026 Innovation Award from the (NORDP).

The award recognizes professionals who advance research development through partnerships, new tools and techniques or the creation and sharing of knowledge that produces demonstrable results. Workman and her NORDP colleague, Allison DeVries of Chapman University, received the award in recognition of the evolution of the (CASSH) affinity group, which they founded in 2022. The group, which has grown to more than 150 NORDP members across the country, helps them marshal and create collective resources and share best practices, case studies and challenges in support of faculty in the humanities, creative arts and social sciences areas.

“I’m honored to receive this award and proud to have had a part in bringing the CASSH group together four years ago when it seemed rare to have a designated arts and humanities research development staff member housed in an R1 institution,” Workman says. The group has gained momentum “because higher education recognizes the value of this support nationwide as integral to the national research landscape and vital to an individual institution’s research ecosystem,” she says.

Workman came to Syracuse in 2019 and built a dedicated arts and humanities research development infrastructure from scratch. She now connects with more than 200 faculty across eight schools and colleges and partners with and several University-affiliated arts organizations.

Beyond campus, she is part of the , an 11-university consortium for collaborative research, teaching and programming. She co-leads its HF4 Corridor Futures and Initiatives working group with program manager Aimee Germain to offer professional development opportunities for faculty.

Impact on Faculty and Funding

Prior to Workman’s arrival, scholars navigated grant funding alone or through informal networks, often missing critical opportunities, says , senior director of research development in the Office of Research, who co-nominated Workman for the award.

She says Workman has contributed to faculty winning prestigious awards, including summer stipends, a and a grant. Workman has also supported a fellowship, an digital justice grant and several successful applications.

In 2025, Workman supported 64 grant proposals seeking $44 million in funding. She recently helped nine arts faculty and five organizations secure awards, making Syracuse the only university in the state to receive multiple awards in that cycle, Chianese says.

, professor of women’s and gender studies and director of the Syracuse University Humanities Center and the Central New York Humanities Corridor, says Workman’s Corridor support has deepened scholarly community across the region and has had significant impact on Syracuse faculty success.

“Sarah has been instrumental in several prestigious Mellon awards, including our first and ensuing New Directions fellowships and many other highly competitive awards and grants,” says May, who co-nominated Workman for the award. “Many of these awards have been substantial enough to transform individual career trajectories and drive transformational work at the University and in  wider communities locally and nationally.” May says faculty frequently remark about how much they enjoy collaborating with Workman and appreciate her support.

, assistant professor of music history and cultures in A&S, credits Workman with helping her secure a , a first for Syracuse among 200 competing institutions. “I am deeply grateful for her thoughtful engagement with my research and for helping make its relevance accessible to a broader interdisciplinary readership,” Peñate says.

, associate professor in women’s and gender studies in A&S, says Workman’s guidance “proved instrumental in shaping two grant proposals into competitive, fundable projects. Her careful feedback led to key revisions that directly contributed to securing a major award from a private funder. In a context of shrinking funding, Sarah’s leadership has been indispensable for the success of humanities’ interdisciplinary, social justice-centered research.”

While Workman focuses on the arts and humanities, the Office of Research supports faculty across disciplines through a broader research development team. Researchers across campus partner with team members on proposal development, funding searches, cohort writing programs for competitive federal awards and strategic guidance on funding opportunities. Faculty interested in support for their projects can learn more about .

From insightful conversations to shared reflections on meaningful work, the  (EHN) Community Showcase offered a powerful reminder of what’s possible when people come together in collaboration.

The event brought together faculty, students and staff from the University with community partners to celebrate projects that address local and regional needs and opportunities through research, teaching and creative work.

The third annual showcase featured panel discussions and table presentations highlighting dozens of initiatives connected to EHN, housed in the (A&S). Collectively, the showcased work represented collaborations across more than 50 departments from nine schools and colleges at Syracuse University, and partnerships with more than 75 community-based organizations.

Projects ranged from arts- and storytelling-based initiatives to STEM research and educational programs focused on community empowerment, environmental sustainability and cultural preservation.

“This is an annual event where we showcase all of the projects, courses and community engagement happening all across the city and region,” says Mary-Jo Robinson, program manager for the EHN. “The hope is to demonstrate the incredible work that’s being done, broaden exposure to these projects and help strengthen connections between partners.”

The event featured panel discussions, allowing speakers to share lessons learned, reflect on challenges and discuss opportunities to sustain and grow their work. Panels focused on EHN’s �����Ի��� initiatives, the new , sustained long-term partnerships and .

The showcase underscored the continued growth of EHN since its founding in 2020 by , Dean’s Professor of Community Engagement and associate professor of writing and rhetoric in A&S. Today, EHN supports more than 350 collaborators from across the University and works with dozens of community partners locally and nationally, from neighborhood-based organizations in Syracuse like the Northside Learning Center to the nation’s preeminent cultural institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“The EHN approaches the humanities not as a bounded academic domain, but as a set of practices that span disciplines and permeate everyday life—across ages, institutions, cultures and communities,” says Nordquist. “The work of the EHN is to recognize, support and connect these practices so that we can collectively respond to the demands of the present while sustaining long traditions of reflection, inquiry, creativity and learning.”

Robinson emphasized that the event is as much about relationship-building as it is about visibility. “EHN exists to support this work and to help make connections,” she says. “When people come together in a space like this, it creates new possibilities for collaboration and helps ensure that community-engaged work remains central to the University’s mission.”

Free and open to the public, the Community Showcase welcomed attendees of all ages and backgrounds, reinforcing EHN’s commitment to accessibility and mutual exchange. As the network continues to grow, the annual showcase remains a key moment to reflect on the impact of community-engaged scholarship in Central New York.

Projects and courses represented at the event included: The Refugee Assistants Program’s Artisan Pathways, Black Women’s Art Ecosystems, Black/Arab Relationalities Initiative (BARI), CODE∧SHIFT, Deaf New Americans CODA Tutoring Program, Documenting the Haudenosaunee Influence on American Democracy (EHN Engaged Course), Environmental Storytelling Series CNY, Geography of Memory: Unsettling Stories (EHN Engaged Course), Hear Together, La Casita, Advanced Methods for Language Teaching (EHN Engaged Course), ME/WE Art Therapy Lab and Studio, Mindfully Growing, Narratio, Native America and the World: The Haudenosaunee (EHN Engaged Course), Natural Science Explorers Program, NOON, Not in the Books, Indigenous Values Initiative, Poetry and Environmental Justice (EHN Engaged Course), Project Mend, Public Scholarship Certificate Program, Safeguarding Syracuse Communities, Southside Connections/Southside Stories, Stories of Indigenous Dispossession Across the Americas (EHN Engaged Course), Teens with a Movie Camera, Traveling Teaching (EHN Engaged Course), Visualizing Care and Resisting Gentrification, We/Re-do Shakespeare (EHN Engaged Course) and Write Out.

Together, they took a corner bakery-grocery and turned it into a new cornerstone of a Syracuse Northside neighborhood.

The project for design students from Syracuse University’s (VPA) and construction management students from (SUNY ESF) was both an experiential learning opportunity and a chance for them to undertake engaged citizenship in the year they worked with community  residents and organizers of , a community nonprofit.

Students redesigned an aging, two-story bakery and apartment structure at 601 Park Street owned by Northside Futures into a modern building serving expanded residential and commercial needs. Northside Futures is a collaborative project of the Northside Learning Center and Justice Capital that focuses on workforce training and small business development, housing, remediation and property management, and community wellness and safety for residents of Syracuse’s Northside neighborhood.

The project provided real-world professional experience through the VPA course DES 451 (also known as “Meaningful Partnership”).

The cross-institutional collaboration also involves SUNY ESF course CME 454, , along with Northside Futures and the University’s .

The Real Thing

“This is not a hypothetical,” says , assistant teaching professor in the School of Design and program coordinator. “It has real users, real challenges and real goals. Students engaged deeply with the community, developed real solutions for real stakeholders and came away with a genuine understanding of what it takes to bring a project to life.”

Founded in 2017 by , professor in  VPA’s , the program became a formal service-learning initiative in 2022 through the Shaw Center. In addition to Dunham, , SUNY ESF associate professor in the Department of Sustainable Resources Management, is a co-teacher. ’84, transportation coordinator at the Shaw Center,  handles logistics.

During its first six years, Meaningful Partnership operated as a three-way collaboration among designers, construction managers and community stakeholders. This year it expanded to four components—with members of the Northside Futures cohort joining as active participants. They learned hands-on construction and trade skills alongside the students while accumulating design literacy for future independent community development. That model is an authentic co-design process where residents are positioned as empowered decision-makers shaping the future of their neighborhood, Lee says.

Two-Semester Overview

In the project, students from both institutions work together for a full year. Last fall, 19 environmental and interior design (EDI) students examined the facility, conducted site visits and client meetings, developed construction blueprints and presented final designs.

In the spring, 17 construction management engineering (CME) students joined them. They used the construction documents to prepare estimates, construction schedules, decide phasing and logistics, suggest value engineering strategies and explore sustainable grants and programs for the project.

Community-Centered Project

Dunham says direct communication with clients is essential to the project’s success.

“During our site visit students were able to speak directly with building owner Northside Futures and the building’s occupants (a residential tenant, the bakery owner and neighbors) and continued to obtain feedback throughout the process,” she says. “That kind of direct engagement with the people who live and work in these spaces is invaluable and it is very much part of what makes this process real.”

In addition to the bakery redesign, students developed alternatives for using an adjacent lot where a dilapidated garage was due for demolition.

Community members suggested building a library, day care center and a community/gym workout space for that structure. The client ultimately chose the idea of a laundromat, Dunham says, since it filled a real need, made sense financially as a revenue stream and was the right fit for the neighborhood.

Human Context

EDI student Ella Mchale says residents’ involvement expanded her understanding of the city and provided a true client experience.

“What we achieved goes so much deeper than just a design project,” she says. “Our community member Fatima helped ground us and gave us the real human context we needed to design with purpose. We took that seriously and created something accessible and meaningful while still bringing our own design concept to the table.”

EDI student and project manager Jolie Ramos says that despite language and cultural differences, “a bond was built based on the betterment of our shared community.”

“That exposure beyond our University bubble gave us the opportunity to not only engage with our community but to form intimate personal connections,” she says. “It was really beautiful to watch the relationships unfold and grow.”

Cultivating Community

“At its core, this project is about community, understanding and creating meaningful impact,” Dunham says. “The community representatives who came into our class shared their culture, needs and challenges and were a true voice for their neighborhood. The connections they formed with our students were genuine and those voices shaped everything. That deeply resonated with our students and it showed in everything they produced.”

Meaningful Partnership’s staying power results from an intentional and ongoing investment of time, interest and shared resources, says Lee.

“Community partnership is something that must be continuously cultivated and is grounded in relationship-building and trust,” she says. “It means sharing resources, lived experience, cultural knowledge and social awareness alongside academic expertise and a commitment to paying that knowledge forward.”

In an age when artificial intelligence can generate content instantly, the human ability to write with clarity, originality and critical insight has become more essential than ever.

Students in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) have ample opportunity to strengthen their writing through a rich landscape of publications and digital platforms. Aurantium, Broadly Textual, Intertext and Mend are among the outlets where students build strong portfolios, sharpen their professional communication skills and engage in experiential learning that prepares them for careers in writing, publishing, media and advocacy.

Aurantium: Making Philosophy Accessible and Alive

Like its namesake,  (the Latin word for orange) is vibrant, inviting and full of fresh perspective. Founded in 2023, this student-led undergraduate philosophy journal was created to invite curiosity, creativity and conversation across disciplines. Supported by the and the Philosophy Club, the journal publishes two issues each year: one focused on the Syracuse University and SUNY ESF community and another open to contributors worldwide.

Essays, reflections, creative writing and artwork all find a home in Aurantium, making it a space where philosophy is explored not as an abstract exercise, but as a living, interdisciplinary practice.

For editor-in-chief Brielle Brzytwa ’28, discovering philosophy was anything but immediate. “In high school it felt abstract, inaccessible and frustratingly stuffy,” she recalls. It wasn’t until college that philosophy began to feel meaningful, and that transformation shaped her vision for Aurantium. “Philosophy doesn’t have to be confined to dense texts or exclusive academic spaces,” she says. “It can—and should—invite curiosity and conversation.”

As editor-in-chief, Brzytwa has made accessibility a guiding principle. She describes the journal as a place where ideas are not only preserved but “shared, challenged and reimagined,” with an emphasis on amplifying a range of undergraduate voices.

Broadly Textual: Building Community Through Public Scholarship

For graduate students eager to share their ideas beyond the boundaries of academic journals,  offers an inviting and meaningful platform. Overseen by William P. Tolley Distinguished Teaching Professor , the online publication highlights graduate student work designed for public audiences, featuring literary and cultural commentary, , and thoughtful explorations of digital media and identity. With its focus on a broad variety of subject matter, the publication encourages students to see scholarship as both collaborative and accessible.

Co-editor Elena Selthun first encountered Broadly Textual as a contributor during their first year of graduate study and quickly recognized its value. They describe the experience as “low-pressure and supportive,” an ideal introduction to publishing. Equally important, Selthun was drawn to the publication’s commitment to public humanities. “The public-facing nature of the blog allows graduate students to apply what we learn beyond academia,” they say.

For fellow co-editor Meg Healy, the appeal initially lay in skill-building and community engagement. Over time, she gained a deeper appreciation for the publication’s role in demystifying the publishing process. “There is a strong incentive to publish while in graduate school, but that can be daunting,” Healy says.

Both editors emphasize the sense of connection the publication fosters. Selthun points out that graduate research can often feel siloed, and “Broadly Textual” helps bring students across departments into conversation.

Intertext: Celebrating Writing Across WRT Courses

For more than three decades, has celebrated writing by undergraduate students in the (WRT), and community partners. In April 2026, editors and contributors gathered to mark the release of the journal’s .

Reflecting on their involvement, editors Jules Vinarub and Kairo Rushing wrote in the introduction to the 2026 issue, “This publication relies on the willingness of Syracuse University students to be vulnerable enough to let their truth be on display—sharing themselves with you, allowing you to hear and see their stories.”

Throughout the year, students met with publishing professionals and authors like Rand Timmerman, member of the at Syracuse University, whose essay about a is published in the 2026 issue along with a .

Any student who has taken a WRT course can submit their work to “Intertext,” and submissions are accepted on a rolling basis. Students interested in joining the editorial team can enroll in WRT 340: Advanced Editing Studio. For more information, contact Professor Patrick W. Berry.

Mend: Amplifying Voices, Honoring Stories and Creating Purpose

 is an annual publication started by , WRT associate professor, and is dedicated to celebrating the lives and creative work of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, as well as individuals impacted by the criminal legal system. Featuring fiction, poetry and nonfiction on a wide range of topics, the publication offers contributors the freedom to explore personal experience while centering dignity, creativity and voice.

Editor Drew Murphy ’26, who is majoring in writing and rhetoric, and in psychology in A&S, first encountered Mend as a junior through an Engaged Humanities course, WRT 413: Rhetoric and Ethics after Prison, taught by Berry. Guest visits from formerly incarcerated writers involved with Mend left a lasting impression.

“Their stories represented a powerful intersection of my two majors, writing and rhetoric and psychology,” Murphy says, describing the experience as one that immediately sparked curiosity on both personal and professional levels. When Murphy learned about internship opportunities with , the decision felt natural.

“The opportunity to work with impacted individuals while contributing to a publication that shares their stories has been meaningful for both my academic studies and future career ambitions,” she explains.

As Murphy prepares for graduate study in social work, she credits Mend with deepening her belief that thoughtful writing can contribute to meaningful change.

As two silver robotic dogs chased each other around the turf field inside the Ensley Athletic Center, 20 school-aged children reacted with excitement as they watched a robotics demonstration put on by .

Closer to the middle of the field, a Central New York high school student picked up a video game controller to steer a metallic robot with pointy spikes toward a target of balloons set up by .

These hands-on demos were just two of dozens of exhibits as part of the second Micron Day on Tuesday. The day’s events brought together more than 700 students—along with families, educators, industry leaders and community partners—to spotlight  potential career opportunities available in STEM.

“These programs give these students an invaluable opportunity to see what’s next for them,” says Kim Burnett ’91, Micron’s lead for social impact and community development. “They leave feeling like they can pursue a career in STEM and that they belong in the STEM field. When you give kids opportunities to have fun and learn while being meaningfully engaged, it adds up to a great day.”

The most popular exhibit at the Micron Day Tech Expo was the virtual reality (VR) education table. Students lined up to wear VR headsets that took them inside Cornell University’s cleanroom and introduced them to the semiconductor industry.

“This is a unique educational opportunity. These students are face-to-face with me in the cleanroom,” says Tom Pennell, Cornell Nanoscale Facility’s workforce development program manager. “All day I kept hearing students say, ‘that’s so cool!’ We’ve created scalable educational content that gets students excited about the possibilities by blending curiosity with the fun aspects of STEM.”

Getting Excited About STEM Possibilities

There were exhibitors conducting demonstrations and answering questions from 35 different organizations—including 13 representing Syracuse University—as well as Micron camps and activities, community partner organizations, military and emergency response partners, higher education institutions and local tech employers.

For students like Om Vaidya, a freshman at the in the Syracuse City School District, the day sparked something. Vaidya envisions a career in STEM and hopes to one day work in robotics.

“This has been a great learning experience. I’m always excited about STEM possibilities, and after today, I know more about what it will take to get a job in STEM,” Vaidya says. “The robotic dogs were really cool, and it tied back to what we’re learning in school about how the sensors and actuators work to power the robots.”

The STEAM High School was among the dozens of schools that attended Micron Day. For educators like Jody Manning, executive director of STEAM High School, the hands-on, interactive activities served to enhance and complement the lessons being taught in the classroom, creating a more authentic learning environment.

“Students need to realize just how many opportunities are available for them in STEM fields. Having Syracuse University and Micron serve as those key collaborators to make everything work for a day like this is crucial,” Manning says. “This sends a very clear message that we’re all in this together when it comes to creating STEM opportunities for the greater Syracuse area.”

Anyone Can Do This

After the robot dog demonstration, the middle and high school students were quick to approach Jiayu Ding G’26 and his classmates, eager to learn more about how the robots were able to easily move and chase after each other.

Over the summer, Ding helps run a six-week program where high school students gain coding skills and build robots from scratch.

Sharing the lessons from those classes with the students at Micron Day was a rewarding experience for Ding, who will graduate with a Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering in May.

“Everyone loved the demonstrations with the robot dogs, that was definitely making many of the students curious about the technology,” says Ding, a member of the . “It makes me happy seeing how excited the students are about STEM. They want to know everything there is to know about this technology. The great part is anyone can do this.”

After the expo, Micron Day featured additional programming focused on the families and caregivers of young people in the region. There was an esports competition in the University’s new Esports Classroom, followed by a town hall that educated parents and students about the clubs, campus and programs available at both the University and elsewhere in the region.

Graduate students Jamea Candy Johnson ’25, G’27 and Adara “Darla” Hobbs ’26 are taking their affordable housing research out of the classroom and directly to the landlords, developers and community organizers working to solve one of Syracuse’s most pressing challenges.

Thanks to a revamped partnership with (TMR), a longstanding, community-focused series of events hosted by the , Johnson and Hobbs shared their findings directly with key public housing constituents.

The two students are conducting the research as , alongside three of their peers.

“My research focuses on the intersection of housing and health care, especially as it relates to economic stability, and this experience has only solidified that interest,” says Johnson, who is on a pre-med and pre-law track while pursuing a master’s degree in public health from the .

“We need community-driven solutions to the problems facing Syracuse. This needs to be about bringing people together from different backgrounds and perspectives and seeing what we can collectively do to address and solve the housing issue,” says Hobbs, who in May will earn a master’s degree in Pan-African studies from the .

Research With the Community, Not About It

The collaboration with TMR pushed Johnson to conduct qualitative research after engaging directly with those who provide and build housing in the city, and not just those people who need housing.

“It turned out to be one of the best ways to conduct research,” says Johnson, who works for both the Onondaga County Legislature and at the Salvation Army Women’s Shelter.

Rather than crunching numbers and visualizing datasets, the fellows conducted one-on-one interviews with each panelist before every session. They used those conversations to write discussion questions tailored to each speaker’s expertise, questions designed not just for academic audiences, but for the community members filling seats in the room.

Housing as a Health Issue

When panelists from Housing Visions—which develops large multi-unit complexes—and A Tiny Home for Good—which builds small-scale permanent housing for people experiencing chronic homelessness—described how they partner with Helio Health and Upstate Medical to bring health care directly to residents in their units, it reframed the entire conversation.

“We’re not just talking about giving people housing. We’re talking about giving people health care. Health care plus housing is going to lead to better lifelong solutions overall,” Johnson says.

It’s a point echoed by Hobbs, who was born and raised in Syracuse.

“Access to adequate health care, education and healthy food, that all comes underneath the umbrella of economic mobility,” Hobbs says.

Lived Experience as Expertise

What surprised Hobbs most through the TMR process was being recognized as an expert by many of the community leaders she had long admired and respected.

“I’m not just taking something from the panelists, they’re learning something from me as well. I do know what I’m talking about. I do have something valuable to contribute,” she says.

“Our lived experiences as locals and residents are the experiences that should be the change agents,” says Hobbs, who has spent more than a decade working in the Syracuse City School District.

Sharing Their Research Insights

Johnson and Hobbs will participate in “For Syracuse or With Syracuse? What Lender Student Fellows’ Research Reveals About Housing and Health in Syracuse” during the . The session runs from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. in Room 100A of the Nancy Cantor Warehouse Auditorium.

“This research program has really emphasized human connection more than anything, and I think that’s the greatest part,” Johnson says.

“Now, I can bring those collective experiences back to my community and hopefully continue to make a difference,” Hobbs says.

Micron Technology’s expansion in North Syracuse is expected to generate thousands of high-tech jobs in the coming years, but many Central New York (CNY) workers don’t yet have a clear path into those roles.

A new Syracuse University initiative called Q-SUCCEED-CNY—Quantum and Semiconductor Upskilling for Career Change through Experiential Education Deployment in Central New York—aims to change that. The workforce development program, led by faculty in the , helps adult learners with no prior technical background explore and prepare for careers in semiconductor, photonics and emerging quantum technologies.

“We are trying to tap into a larger community that has no prior technical background and awareness of this field, not those community members who already have tech background or who have already decided to pursue tech careers,” says Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Professor , who leads the program.

Who It’s For

Q-SUCCEED-CNY specifically targets people who may not have considered the tech sector: blue-collar workers, mid-career professionals in non-technical fields, veterans and individuals without STEM backgrounds. Through industry-aligned workshops, career exploration activities and hands-on experiential learning, participants build foundational technical skills and industry connections. Upon completing the program, participants receive a $2,400 stipend.

The initiative is led by Hasanovic alongside electrical engineering and computer science professors and , with project coordinator Anusha Ghimire managing operations and community partnerships.

How It Works

The program offers structured exposure to semiconductor, optics and quantum technology careers through a combination of educational programming and direct engagement with industry partners. It is supported by a broad network of affiliated organizations committed to regional workforce development, including Micron, Onondaga Community College, Syracuse City School District Adult Education, Westcott Community Center, Manufacturers Association of Central New York, NY CREATES, Cornell University, Toptica Photonics and Jubilee Homes.

How to Apply

Applications are open at . For more information, contact the Q-SUCCEED-CNY team at mhasanov@syr.edu or anghimir@syr.edu.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how governments operate, how universities teach and how public institutions make decisions.

That was the central message of a recent fireside chat hosted by the . Dean moderated the conversation which brought together two leaders working at the forefront of AI adoption: , commissioner of the New York State Office of General Services (OGS), and , Syracuse University’s senior vice president for digital transformation and chief digital officer.

“The question before us is not whether AI will transform public life,” Van Slyke said. “It’s whether our institutions are ready to lead that transformation thoughtfully, equitably and effectively.”

Personalizing Learning and Expanding Access

Rubin opened the March 26 event with a claim about the stakes for higher education: AI, he said, has the potential to transform how universities teach in ways not seen in 200 years. “The idea of a professor standing in front of a room, lecturing—and students taking notes and then being assessed through projects, papers and exams—that model has not shifted,” he said. “What AI allows you to do is personalize learning.”

Personalization at scale has long been a challenge because no instructor can simultaneously tailor a course to every student’s pace and needs, he said. AI changes that equation.

Rubin shared how Syracuse has deployed more than 30,000 AI licenses across campus to drive equitable access and data security. Some students had already purchased AI tools on their own, while others could not afford them, he pointed out. Faculty and staff also needed a secure environment for uploading sensitive documents without routing data through commercial platforms.

Rubin also highlighted a less-discussed dimension of the University’s AI work: a private wireless network, built in partnership with JMA Wireless, that supports thermal sensors in academic buildings across campus. The sensors detect occupancy without capturing identifying information, allowing the University to optimize janitorial services, plan building capacity and, eventually, adjust heating and cooling based on actual use patterns.

A Measured Approach to Government AI

Moy noted that the state’s deliberate pace of technology adoption is a necessary safeguard rather than a liability. “I would contend that it’s important that government is risk-averse,” she said. “The information that we hold is really important—Medicaid data, health data, testing information. The importance of that stewardship becomes paramount.”

Her office oversees roughly 30 million square feet of state real estate, manages 1,500 procurement contracts valued at $44 billion and administers a design and construction portfolio of approximately $5.7 billion. Moy described the agency’s AI strategy as a measured approach. It involves first identifying low-risk, high-value applications, then building the data infrastructure to support them, and ensuring legal and operational frameworks are in place before scaling.

Moy said one of OGS’s most tangible AI investments is in procurement search. Agencies and municipalities navigating the state’s contract catalog often struggle to find what they need, undermining the efficiency those contracts are designed to provide. Moy said AI-assisted search is a logical starting point: low risk, no job displacement and an immediate opportunity to test what the technology can do.

The agency is also piloting AI-powered document summarization tools for bid documents and contract histories which are reported to save up to three hours per day.

Moy noted that backlogs present another opportunity, as they are a universal challenge across the public sector. She explained that while AI could help alleviate some of those challenges, agencies must be cautious; they cannot hand out productivity tools to every worker without first creating the right frameworks.

Jobs, Regulation and What Comes Next

Both speakers addressed audience concerns about AI’s impact on jobs—a topic that has gained urgency in New York following Governor Kathy Hochul’s , which is tasked with studying AI’s effects on the labor market.

Rubin cited research suggesting that less than 1% of the 1.2 million layoffs recorded in 2025 were directly attributable to AI, arguing that economic factors and structural business decisions are doing more to reshape the workforce than the technology itself. He expressed confidence that AI will ultimately create more jobs than it displaces, though he acknowledged that every job will change.

“If you don’t know how to incorporate AI into your domain and discipline, you will be at a disadvantage,” he said. “Students need to have the tools and the classes.”

Moy recalled the dot-com era and the transformation of publishing that upended models at institutions like the Brooklyn Public Library, where she once served as chief strategy officer. The fear and exuberance that accompanied those transitions, she said, mirrors what society is experiencing today.

“We want to make sure that we’re thinking about it ethically, that we’re balancing it according to public need,” she said. “And we’re having active conversations about those trade-offs.”

Both panelists returned repeatedly to the theme of transparency in AI systems, government data and institutional communications.

Rubin pointed to Anthropic’s practice of publishing system prompts as a model for responsible AI deployment and noted that Syracuse recently launched an AI-powered course search tool, called , that similarly makes its operating parameters visible. He also raised the challenge of AI-generated media and the difficulty of distinguishing real content from fabricated content online.

An Open and Ongoing Dialogue

The conversation drew questions from the audience.

A first-year Maxwell student and member of the University’s United AI club asked what precedent a recent court ruling holding social media platforms liable for algorithmic harm to minors sets for the future of AI regulation and whether platforms like ChatGPT should face similar oversight.

Rubin was direct: “We made the mistake with social media. These companies should have an obligation to have guardrails.”

Moy pointed to Hochul’s recent policy proposals targeting addictive technology, including requirements for more restrictive default settings on children’s accounts. She acknowledged that government is often a step behind rapid technological change, but argued that intervention becomes necessary when innovation results in public harm.

A second student raised concerns about AI’s potential to enable fraud, including falsified documents and biased algorithms.

“These are very real questions,” she said, emphasizing that OGS is working to understand its uses and risks. She argued that the answer isn’t avoiding AI but understanding it well enough to spot its misuse. “If we don’t understand it, we will fall behind.”

Rubin agreed, framing the detection challenge as both technological and philosophical: As AI becomes embedded in everything from autocomplete to document editing, defining what counts as “AI-generated” becomes increasingly difficult. “My gut is almost every piece of content out there will have some AI piece to it, assisting us,” he said. “So, it’s a technology challenge and a societal challenge.”

Van Slyke closed by noting that Maxwell’s role in preparing students for public service has always meant equipping them not just with technical knowledge, but with the ability to navigate the policy, governance and ethical dimensions that accompany it.

“The question is not what will AI do to our institutions,” he said. “It’s what will we choose to do with it.”

The (CHB) in the (A&S) has awarded its first round of competitive grants for interdisciplinary and cross-institutional health and behavioral science research projects.

A total of $33,000 in seed funding has been awarded to six separate projects through the and the . The grants are intended to catalyze cross-university collaboration and position investigators for larger external grant submissions.

“The selected proposals span researchers from six Syracuse University colleges and institutes and eight departments, schools and centers, truly reflecting broad institutional engagement and collaboration,” says , director of the CHB and professor in the Department of Psychology in A&S. “The grants also illustrate CHB’s strategic role in seeding interdisciplinary research, strengthening university-Veterans Affairs partnerships, accelerating development of competitive external grant submissions and advancing impactful work across health and behavioral science domains.”

Projects include research on intimate partner violence among veterans, alcohol reduction messaging in Veterans Affairs primary care, heart rate training for entrepreneurs, healthy eating tools for young children, AI support readiness for family caregivers and virtual reality-based voice therapy for pre-service (student) teachers.

Several external partners are also included. Those projects involve researchers at , , and , as well as and industry partner .

Pilot funds were provided to CHB by the College of Arts and Sciences with direct support from Dean , Ditre says. The funds can be used for participant compensation, core facility access, data acquisition, study materials, software and other costs of launching new collaborative research. Projects begin this month and cover a 12-month period.

Researchers receiving grants and their projects are:

Understanding and Addressing Intimate Partner Violence Among Veterans: A Mixed Methods Study of Risk Factors, Experiences and Treatment Preferences

• , assistant professor of psychology, A&S
• , clinical psychology postdoctoral fellow, VA Center for Integrated Healthcare,

Nudge Messaging to Promote Alcohol-Related Behavior Change Among Veterans in Primary Care

• , research assistant professor, CHB/IVMF and clinical research program director, VA Center for Integrated Healthcare
• , research professor and professor emeritus of psychology, A&S

Family Caregiver Well-Being and Readiness for AI-Based Support

• , associate professor of senior research associate, ,
• assistant professor of faculty associate, , Maxwell School

Virtual Reality-Based Voice Therapy for Pre-Service Teachers: Initial Design of a VR Voice Intervention

• , assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders, A&S
• , associate professor of industrial and interaction design, ,

A Sweet Texts Add-On to Identify Tailoring Variables and Decision Points for Reducing Energy-Dense Food Intake in Preschool Children

• , assistant professor of nutrition and food studies,
• , assistant professor of psychology, A&S

Physiological Self-Regulation as a Foundation of Entrepreneurial Functioning

• , assistant professor of entrepreneurship,
• , associate professor of entrepreneurship and academic director of the , Whitman School

A group of Syracuse University students has spent months working with Syracuse youth, guiding them through theater, design and media workshops that will culminate in a live public performance this spring.

The students are leading (Theater Workshop), an annual, bilingual creative arts program based at on Syracuse’s Near West Side.

The program, which involves and in addition to La Casita, delivers culturally oriented arts education for community youth, says , the University’s executive director of cultural engagement for the Hispanic community. The workshops build dual-language skills, artistic presentation abilities and stage-presence confidence for children ages 6 and up.

The public performance will be held on Saturday, , at La Casita as part of the annual Arte Joven/Young Art exhibition, a celebration of visual art, music and dance. The event is open to the public.

Mutual Benefits

Taller de Teatro benefits both the students who lead the workshops and the children who participate, Paniagua says. “This program creates meaningful opportunities for University students to engage directly with the community while developing professional skills.”

The structure of the collaboration creates a dynamic environment where students and youngsters learn from one another, she says. “Several of the student instructors are studying drama and they are facilitating workshops alongside students from the creative arts therapy graduate program. Other students are contributing through documentation, photography, video and communications skills. In this way, the program becomes a multidisciplinary learning experience where students apply their training in a real community setting.”

For young actors and for theater students in particular, the chance to gain experience as instructors early in their careers can open important professional pathways, Paniagua says. “They are learning how to guide creative processes, work with children and adapt theater practices to educational and community contexts. Ultimately, the efforts of those involved are tremendous and they allow La Casita to offer high-quality theater programming to local youth.”

Kate Laissle, director of education at Syracuse Stage, says involving Syracuse students as teaching assistants for this program helps inspire and train the next generation of theater educators while providing programming that supports community connections.

‘For Everyone’

“The ability to partner with La Casita and build on our relationship and its well-established programming also helps show that theatre is for everyone,” Laissle says. “Working collaboratively between performance, design and storytelling, students get to experience the depth and breadth of theater. Using multiple capacities of theatrical art-making lets young people use their creativity in ways that serve them best. It is outstanding to see the growth of the students, both school- and college-aged, over the course of this program.”

This year’s student participants, who lead acting workshops and provide media support and documentation, are: GB Bellamy ’27 and Sofia Slaman ’27, acting majors, Department of Drama, VPA; Nashaly Bonilla ’28, major, Department of Drama, VPA; Catie Kobland ’21, G’26, fine arts graduate and master’s candidate in VPA; Iman Jamison G’26, master’s student in , School of Information Studies; Sara Oliveira ’29, film and media arts major, Department of Film and Media Arts, VPA; and Sophia Domenicis ’28, , Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Three Presenting Partners

The program is possible because of a collaboration among three university-connected organizations:

• La Casita Cultural Center is a program of Syracuse University established to advance an educational and cultural agenda of civic engagement through research, cultural heritage preservation, media and the arts, bridging the Hispanic communities of the University and Central New York.
• Punto de Contacto/Point of Contact, celebrating its 50th year, bridges cultures and disciplines through exhibitions, poetry and  a permanent art collection. Its El Punto Art Studio has served youth since 2008.
• Syracuse Stage, the city’s leading professional theater, contributes expertise through acting and playwriting workshops that strengthen University-community connections and support literacy development.

More than 280 people representing approximately 110 organizations gathered in downtown Syracuse recently for the 2026 Lender Expo. This is the second year the communitywide convening and dialogue has been hosted by the University’s , and the expanded schedule was made possible by a new sponsorship from .

The Lender Center addresses important social issues through interdisciplinary research, community engagement and faculty and student fellowships. The expo is among the most visible expressions of that mission, offering organizations an opportunity to share resources, build partnerships and engage in dialogue about the area’s most pressing needs, says , director.

The program opened with a “State of the Region” panel discussion featuring Syracuse Mayor , Onondaga County Executive , U.S. Rep. and Syracuse City Court Judge .

Also addressing the group was , chief administrative officer and president of health plans at , who discussed the company’s efforts to address community health needs. Workshops covered grant writing, mental health, data collection, legal services, artificial intelligence and conflict resolution. A session, “Where Service Meets Progress,” drew a wide audience on the second day.

The convening also included recognition for , president emerita of InterFaith Works and founding member of the Lender Center Advisory Group, who was honored for her many years of social justice advocacy and community service.

More Event Photos

Stephen Kuusisto, Urayoán Noel and OlaRose Ndubuisi—three poets whose work embody resilience, identity and the radical possibilities of language—will present their work at the annual poetry reading on

The event, produced by Punto de Contacto/Point of Contact, takes place at the , where the “” spring exhibition, which recognizes artists who live with disabilities, is currently displayed.

“This unique setting provides  much excitement for our Cruel April series this year,” says , the University’s executive director of cultural engagement for the Hispanic community and Point of Contact director. “Just as the exhibition’s artistic expressions expand on ideas of creativity shaped by body, mind, culture and history, the works of the three poets enter into a dialogue across cultures and disciplines. Both forums offer varied perspectives on how artists navigate the world on their own terms.”

The poetry program begins at 5:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Poet and essayist is a University Professor and director of the . Blind since birth, Kuusisto has built a celebrated body of work that redefines understandings of perception and beauty. His poetry collections, “Only Bread, Only Light” (2000) and “Letters to Borges” (2013), along with memoirs including “Planet of the Blind” and “Have Dog, Will Travel,” have established him as one of the most compelling disability voices in American letters. His work has appeared in Harper’s, Poetry and The New York Times Magazine.

is an internationally recognized poet and scholar, an associate professor of English and Spanish at New York University and a defining voice in Latinx and Nuyorican literary traditions. He is the author of the landmark study “In Visible Movement: Nuyorican Poetry from the Sixties to Slam” (2014) and the poetry collections “Buzzing Hemisphere/Rumor Hemisférico” (2015) and “Transversal” (2021), which was a New York Public Library Book of the Year. He is also the winner of the LASA Latino Studies Book Award. His work explores neurodivergence, migration and the politics of language. Cruel April is presented in partnership with the , , , and the .

’29, the 2024–25 New York State Youth Poet Laureate, is a Syracuse student pursuing dual majors in biology and journalism. She is also a Coronat Scholar and Renée Crown honors student and is enrolled in SUNY Upstate Medical University’s B.S./M.D. program. Her poetry draws on her experience with scoliosis, her Nigerian heritage and her commitment to uplifting marginalized communities. A premature birth survivor, she is the founder of The Finding Scoliosis Kindly Project and a Prudential Emerging Visionaries award winner.

Earlier this month, the led a campus-wide effort to collect new and gently used dress shirts and blouses for Syracuse City School District students who were preparing for an upcoming career fair.

The campus came together and responded with enthusiasm, as 267 dress shirts and blouses were donated to the Syracuse City School District through collection boxes at Bird Library, the Office of Campus Planning, Design and Construction, Crouse Hinds Hall, Dineen Hall at the College of Law, the National Veterans Resource Center at the Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Building, the Skytop Office Building and the Martin J. Whitman School of Management.

The items were donated to the school district on March 9.

For many students, a career fair represents one of their first opportunities to make a professional impression, and having the right attire can make a real difference in how prepared and confident they feel walking in, says Jenny Dombroske, Community Engagement executive director.

“Our campus community came through to help local students,” Dombroske says. “Many of us remember the nerves that accompany those first interviews and professional interactions. You’re worried about saying the right thing and making a strong first impression.”

These donations helped remove a practical barrier that students might otherwise face, ensuring that every student can focus on what they have to offer rather than what they have to wear.

“The generosity shown by our campus community will have a real and lasting impact on these students. Thank you to everyone across campus who contributed. We are proud to be part of a University that shows up for its neighbors,” says Paige Altman, Community Engagement coordinator.

came to Syracuse University as a with an urgent purpose: to learn all she could about helping veterans return to civilian life and bring that knowledge home to war-torn Ukraine.

Pohorielova is an associate professor and head of the Department of Pedagogy, Foreign Philology and Translation at in , near the front lines of the Russia-Ukraine War. Her journey to Syracuse began after she heard a high-level Ukrainian official observe that is about to become a city of veterans.

The comment was a turning point. Pohorielova realized that, when the war ends, hundreds of thousands of veterans will need support transitioning to civilian life: finding jobs, housing and educational pathways and, hopefully, a society aware of and responsive to their unique psychological needs. Yet Pohorielova also knew her country was far from ready to provide that help. “I felt like I didn’t know anything about veterans. I had no clue. And I felt like other establishments weren’t ready for the influx of veterans, either,” she says.

The next day, she learned about the Fulbright Visiting Scholar program and applied. To her surprise, she became just the second person from her university to receive a Fulbright in 30 years.

Right Place, Right Time

The Fulbright program matches host institutions with a scholar’s research goals, making Syracuse University, with its emphasis on veterans, a natural fit. Pohorielova’s visit is being hosted through the (CHB), drawing on the expertise and engagement of the (IVMF), the (OVMA), the (SOE), and colleagues at the . Among those who facilitated Pohorielova’s residency was IVMF founder and University Chancellor-elect .

“[This] is one of the best places in the U.S. to observe veteran re-entry services. Practices here have been validated. We need to learn, borrow, start them and adjust American practices to existing Ukrainian realities,” Pohorielova says.

Since her arrival, Pohorielova has attended monthly CHB seminars, worked closely with faculty sponsors , professor of psychology and CHB director; and , SOE faculty director of online programs and strategic initiatives, associate teaching professor in the School of Social Work and CHB associate director. She also engaged with faculty, staff, doctoral students and researchers across campus.

“Their contribution to my research is incredible,” she says of her sponsors. The broader campus culture has been welcoming, too. “Every person I meet here is trying to support me and give me the information I need.”

Facilitating the Transition

Ukrainian soldiers face the same reintegration challenges as American veterans: psychological health risks, substance use, financial instability and difficulty transitioning back to civilian life. But for Ukrainian veterans who are returning to communities still under threat, with shattered economies and disrupted families, those risks may be even more acute, Pohorielova says.

Reintegrating also involves other obstacles, including funding, cultural resistance and a general distrust of mental health services, which is a legacy of Soviet-era political repression. Ukraine’s military culture, which prizes toughness and stigmatizes psychological struggles as weakness, presents another hurdle, Pohorielova says.

Pohorielova believes Ukrainian educational institutions can help facilitate veterans’ transition from military service to civilian life. At the same time, they can leverage veterans’ leadership, experience and a strong sense of purpose, qualities that can make them active contributors to postwar recovery efforts in Ukraine.

“Investing in veterans’ wellbeing, education and vocational pathways supports not only individual reintegration but also broader social and economic stability,” she says.

Insights from Pohorielova’s research at Syracuse form the basis of her recovery action plan, “Veteran Reintegration Ecosystem for Ukrainian Universities.” The scalable, locally grounded program can be implemented within existing institutions, she believes. The plan’s three pillars are institutional capacity and coordination; behavioral health and wellbeing; and workforce and economic integration.

Components include:

• Clear coordination and referral pathways to help veterans navigate academic and support services
• Faculty and staff training to strengthen the university’s ability to support veteran students
• Behavioral health awareness and referral pathways
• Flexible online and hybrid learning options
• Short-course retraining, microcredentials and entrepreneurship pathways aligned with workforce needs
• Structured employer and community partnerships to support job placement, entrepreneurship and business development

Pohorielova and her 13-year-old daughter, who came with her to the U.S. and attends school locally, have been here since February and will return to Ukraine this summer. By then, Pohorielova will be ready to present her fully developed framework to her university’s leadership as a ready-to-go strategy, and she hopes to see its immediate adoption.

Success would fulfill her dream of helping her country, her university and her community, and ensure that veterans will have proven systems in place to support their return.

“Following a dream is a good thing,” she says. “Once you succeed, you will get to a new level. That’s what happened to me. I didn’t expect it, but I’m very happy to be here.”

For Syracuse University senior , research isn’t confined to a laboratory. She’s taking her work directly into the community—hosting events, screening participants and listening closely to people who have long been underserved by the health care system.

Weltman, a dual major in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) and neuroscience with a minor in psychology in the (A&S), is conducting research in the under the mentorship of , A&S assistant professor of CSD.

Pei, a certified speech-language pathologist, researches ways to maximize cognitive-communication rehabilitation outcomes for individuals with traumatic brain injuries and how health communication discrimination affects their health care access and recovery.

Pei and Weltman are working in the project, “Integrating Culturally Adapted Principles in Cognitive Communication Rehabilitation,” which addresses a critical gap in speech-language pathology: the absence of culturally tailored care.

“The long-term goal of this research study is to improve speech-language pathologist therapy participation and outcomes for all clients, regardless of their backgrounds, thereby ensuring consistent healthcare delivery to all,” Weltman says.

Community Research Model

To gather insights, the research team uses a community-based model, hosting engagement events at locations such as the Westcott Community Center, Mckinley- Brighton Elementary School, Cicero Community Center, Interfaith Works of CNY and the Jewish Community Center of Syracuse. Participants come from local nursing homes, YMCAs, elementary school programs and other local groups that support community centers and senior companion programs. The events include presentations on healthy aging that feature games and prizes, free cognitive screenings and opportunities to participate in surveys and interviews. Weltman then analyzes those findings and connects them to the psychotherapy adaptation and modification framework—a systematic guide used to customize standard psychological treatments to fit a client’s specific personal background.

Learning New Skills

The work has pushed Weltman to develop skills that span clinical science, data analysis and community organizing. She has learned to code interviews, extract and analyze data, develop surveys and create clinical manuals, and says these technical competencies will serve her well in her future career as a speech-language pathologist specializing in neurogenic communication disorders.

Just as important, she has learned to see the broader landscape of how health care reaches and serves all patients. She says that work has allowed her to identify specific barriers to health care and learn how to recognize how personal nuances affect speech-language therapy.

Weltman’s research is already reaching beyond Syracuse’s campus. She is preparing to submit a proposal to , a significant milestone for an undergraduate researcher.

She credits her faculty mentor with making that trajectory possible. Weltman has worked with Pei since her sophomore year and says the relationship fundamentally shaped her academic and professional path.

“From my very first assigned task, Dr. Pei has believed in my potential and supported me every step of the way,” Weltman says. “Without her and the lab, I would have never concentrated on the field of cognitive communication, which has inspired my future career.”

The (SOURCE) has also been instrumental in her work, Weltman says. SOURCE is where she first learned about the range of available to undergraduates.  The office provided research project components, including a received this past year. In addition, SOURCE support such as and programming including orientations, workshops and check-in meetings, have underpinned her ongoing success, she says.

For Weltman, the research is ultimately about more than data or frameworks—it is about making sure every patient, regardless of background, has a real chance at recovery.